Jaeger, Karen Millen, Aquascutum, Ted Baker, Austin Reed, Whistles, Hobbs, Coast, Daks and Giorgio Armani made by Chinese slave labour in Malta
This photograph was not taken in Malta.
The shocking story continues as more facts come to light.
The investigations into Leisure Clothing began when a few Chinese people we caught trying to get out of Malta using false documents.
When caught by the immigration authorities, they said they had been brought to Malta from China by traffickers who promised them lucrative work.
They were asked for $6,000 to pay for their journey to Malta and as a fee to acquire this job. They obviously did not have that kind of money and so they accepted “credit” from the traffickers.
When they arrived in Malta, their passports were taken from them, they were shoved into derelict barracks and collected every day at 6am to work long hours on the factory floor right into the night, sewing luxury clothing for the brand names above. An eyewitness who worked there as a student told this website that once a day, a van would come to the factory and feed the Chinese labourers “terrible food that sometimes had worms in it” and give them water.
Those who were caught trying to escape said that they were paid just “tens of euros a month” over several years because their employers told them that they had to pay back the $6,000. So what we are looking at here is indentured slavery.
They did not go to the police because they had been warned against it and because in the culture in which they were raised, police are not there to protect citizens but to protect the authorities.
They saved their miserable pay over years to escape.
This has been going on for many years. It would have been impossible without police corruption and political ‘blindness’ on a grand scale.
And I truly hope that the corruption was indeed on a grand scale, because if it turns out that officials were being bribed merely with high-end clothing made by the factory, rather than large sums of money, the mentality of those officials remains as Third World as it always was despite our 10 years in the European Union. They can be bought with just a suit and the lives of labourers are worth nothing to them.
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Didn’t Jason Micallef say that he wears Austin Reed? Now we know where he gets his clothes from.
And isn’t he a very close friend to Ronnie Pellegrini ?
In Prato, Italy, around 5,000 Chinese factories produce copycat garments with a ‘Made in Italy’ label within days of launches by major fashion houses.
They are slave-labour sweatshops which operate under Mafia control and which survive and proliferate because of fear and corruption on a grand scale. Roberto Saviano, who took on the Mafia and the Camorra with his writing, has exposed this too.
But for starters, read this article:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/italian-jobs-chinese-illegals-11032011.html
Some other instances of modern slave-labour or servitude can be found in these judgments of the ECtHR, which disclose also how the complacency of the authorities, particularly of the police, can even lead to tragic consequences:
http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i=001-114518
http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i=001-114032
http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i=001-96549
When’s his funeral?
[Daphne – He lives under heavily armed guard, outside Italy.]
It is not just a perception that you can bribe judges, politicians, police officers and custom officers in Malta.
“… because in the culture in which they were raised, police are not there to protect citizens but to protect the authorities.”
Sounds familiar.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with that.
And this has been long embedded. At equal status with fact.
Even the routine to it.
The question being which side is seen as authorities, taking us back to Toni Abela’s easy quest for a ‘Laburist’ amongst them, that status fully operational under a NP Government.
Too familiar, too frightening. A change in mentality is required and for this to happen we have to free the Police from their political ties.
Seems the only way to do it is to name and shame.
If any journalist has the names and evidence of corruption he is in duty bound to pass it to the police for investigations and print it for the public to know so he is safe from police persecution.
I have this nagging feeling that this story will be turned into another tug-of-war between the parties each blaming the other. No one will take responsibility.
As PM, Muscat will not do anything to rock his gravy train. And, the PN is too caught up in feeling sorry for itself and in apologising for its weakened state.
In the meantime, these poor Chinese will be repatriated in exchange for a fresh batch while the average man in the street takes to the reinforced national pass times: “tu quoque” and “shoot the niggah.” The old slaves will face God knows what upon their return for fleeing the country.
And, these atrocities will continue once all the ruckus has died down.
This government has to ensure that the practices used in Leisure Clothing would not extend to the power station if the contract with the Chinese go through.
Responsibility lies with the owners of Leisure Clothing, which it must be emphasized, is the Chinese government.
That no-one miss this detail.
Or how Mario Vella endorsed Sai Mizzi as his trade envoy to China.
And why ‘trade’ in their dictionary is a unilateral affair. The mistake everyone does is to think the Chinese are hypocritical in their strain of capitalism, they’re not, they choose to colonise markets with manpower, destroying any competition based on western values, to win.
Democracy in their book is a liability to being competitive.
Remember Muscat and his admiration for their capacity to respond.
Which is why the Lm 1 million annually that the Chinese were paying with their Cultural Centre was seen as “pretty cheap for a stepping stone in the Med.”
Ara bhalissa x’jigbdulu l-ispag ic-Cinzi lil Joseph Muscat.
They would have done the same thing to the PN administration.
Jigbdulu l-ispag jew jaghfsulu ghonqu?
jew jaghfsulu l-bocci.
They’ve got him by the balls. Far more effective.
I would love to know how they entered the country. It something that fascinates me with all the border checks – trying to get into a Schengen area legitimately.
Did they come in by boat? It’s the workers they need to talk to – maybe they can lift the lid on the whole scam.
Now that it is out in the open we will see the whole sad story unravel. We, in Malta, have no appreciation for how well off we really are. “Fuq xifer l-irdum”, a favourite Super One catch-cry, pales.
Do you know how many Maltese visas are issued to Chinese citizens each month? Go on, ask your MP to submit a PQ.
There are 2 options.
1) They came in on a visitors visa but never left the country. In which case, the immigration department isn’t tallying up the arrivals and departures.
2) they case in on a visitors visa but someone has facilitated their working permits.
I reckon it’s the 1st option. Otherwise, there is no point whisking them away through the back door when police or labour office visit the factory.
They don’t have to come to the country illegally. They can get a visa and work permit once the factory vouches for them being specialized in their work.
It’s the same with Turkish food outlets. Not the slave worker bit but the visa bit.
The Chinese seem to have a special mystery entry door only for them, as the same thing happens in the USA and Canada.
I say the politicians in both nations are bribed to look the other way and even facilitate their entry, like through the Chinese student studying in a North American University ploy, where they can sponsor their Chinese relatives a short time later on.
One Canadian prime minister had a complete Canadian style High School built in China for Chinese students, to get them 100% ready to enter university in Canada.
Corruption is not only a Maltese phenomena.
If the Chinese government has a stake in the factory it would be no problem for the workers to pass as diplomatic staff, maids, nannies, cooks etc.
Was the way to the factory so slippery with fat that all the official slipped and fell on the way there?
Did no one notice the bouncers appearing in the videos and shying away from the cameras? Were these HUMAN BEINGS, yes in capital and bold letters, under illegal arrest?
Has Joe no podium fit for the occasion to make a public statement?
Is this trivial by Labour standards? Is this a storm in a tea cup by the standards of Manuel Mallia? Or is this all a simple hallucinatory perception of mine?
Wasn’t there a detail that said Enemalta employees would now be working for the Chinese abroad?
What was the vision there?
What happened when these Chinese workers/slaves needed medical visits?
Worse, what if one of them passed away? The likelihood of this happening, given the numbers, the time this has been happening and their inhumane conditions, is quite high.
The City of Milan had discovered they actually recycled passports.
How terrible and shocking. I find it incomprehensible that this could have gone on for so many years – and under different administrations, at that – without the workers’ plight ever being exposed.
In the late 1980s, I remember people talking about a clothing factory staffed by Chinese workers. There was no suggestion then that there was anything illegal about their employment but I remember thinking it was strange that Chinese workers would be brought in when so many Maltese textile factory workers were losing their jobs.
Someone who was involved with the Chamber of Commerce had said she was offered a jacket as a gift. She refused it, quite rightly, because it was offered in the context of a professional business relationship.
I imagine lots of gifts have been offered over the years to others who are less correct in their behaviour and in their attitude to what is no more than a form of bribery. Gift-giving is a normal business practice in China. Corporate gift-giving sustains the luxury retail industry – which is fed by indentured labour – and keeps officials quiet about inconvenient truth.
Anyone who has received a gift from Leisure Clothing cannot deny knowing that crime was involved even if they are wilfully in denial about the slave labour that produced it. Armani suits belong to Armani, not to the factory that made them.
I wonder how the gift recipients feel about their support of organised crime? Trafficking of workers is organised crime. Most, if not all, of the business is controlled by the notoriously vicious and dangerous Chinese triads.
Those triads are partly the reason Roberto Saviano lives in hiding and under permanent security escort. He exposed what so many choose to ignore when they accept their ‘free’ Armani suit: that it was stolen from the copyright owner and made by slave labour in their own neighbourhood to help keep organised crime networks in business.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141030/local/sliema-tower-plans-are-back-up-to-33-floors.541876
Will Astrid go on the warpath ?
It seems everyone is missing the crucial point of this story . Leisure Clothing is SUBCONTRACTED by Bortex to manufacture these designer brands . Ahem
http://archive.maltatoday.com.mt/midweek/2007/08/15/t6.html
Exactly. It’s then up to Leisure Clothing to provide the goods at those prices.
Leisure Clothing has a retail outlet in Sliema called ‘Label C’ in which it sells extra production but without the brand for which the items were produced. They not only exploit their national compatriots but also the companies who give them the orders by ripping off their designs and selling them themselves.
If the Opposition, when in Government, knew about this human tragedy and did nothing about it, then sorry, shame on the PN too.
They are as guilty as those who perpetrated this huge injustice.
Ejja, Pepp, what about a Xarabank on this theme, with some actual slaves as members on the panel?
While there has undoubtedly been a lot of corruption involved, I would bet that there are a lot of ordinary people who were unaware of what was happening simply because they didn’t want to know, a kind of toned-down, mild version of WWII-era German people ‘not knowing’ what went on in concentration camps.
The fresh Commission against Corruption has indeed quite a good load on its plate, now – let us see what action will be taken.
I had come to know about a sweatshop employing Chinese operating in Malta some 21 years back.
I was told about this ‘factory’ by a colleague but I wasn’t made aware of the name nor of the location of this factory and therefore I dismissed it as being a myth.
I was given the impression that it was common knowledge and not a state secret.
It seemed that any manager working in a factory in Malta knew about this operation. Maybe there were other sweatshops operated which since then have closed up.
As said, at the time I found it hard to believe that such abuse happened in Malta especially because it seemed common knowledge and therefore authorities (including unions) would be aware of the situation.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141030/local/bus-driver-held-us-hostage-for-45-minutes.541875
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20141030/local/jason-azzopardi-condemns-ministers-bullying-tactics.541931
Indeed, whatever happened to the Whistleblower Act?
Expect a Xarabank edition from that Labour lapdog Joe Azzopardi…I don’t think.
Many moons ago when I was employed in the secretarial department of various factories. Labour Office officials used to come to the factory occasionally and without notice, to check on the workers’ conditions, whether their national insurance cards were up to date with the necessary stamps, etc. and sometime also talking to certain employees chosen at random without the employer being present.
Is this system still in force? I suppose not since this scandal only came to light now.
In conclusion I can only say that the Maltese are really generous when it comes to contributions to various marathons organised for charity. I ask, what makes the Maltese tick. Indeed strange Christian attitudes.
Does the church have anything to say about this?
The people who were in the know must include not only police but also civil servants in the Labour Department and officials of Malta Enterprise, trade union officials, and some politicians. You can be sure that from the moment the Nazzjon reporter exposed this scandalous situation, all these started making phone calls and arranging personal alibis.
I wonder if the Chinese director is one who had or is applying for citizenship under the great passport sale?
On a not unrelated note, domestic workers are on duty 6 days a week and their ‘day off’ is typically from 8am to 8pm on a Sunday, when the standard working week is 40 hours long. They are paid the minimum wage of Eur700 per month and there is no overtime pay. Occasionally, half the cost of a ticket home – usually to The Philippines – is paid once every two years.
How is that any different to keeping factory workers on long shifts for a pittance?
Something inside tells me that the purchase of large amounts of tinned cat food was never intended for any cats after all…
I do not see what’s this fuss about Chinese slave workers in Malta.
In a few years’ time, if Joseph Muscat is given the time to implement his roadmap, we will all be Chinese slave workers in Malta.
Not only these Chinese are being treated like slaves. Several restaurant owners are employing foreigners working long hours and they don’t even get paid a minimum wage. U qed ikissru l-pagi tal-Maltin.
GWU – Ma Taghmlu Xejn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLuR5MoqcPM&feature=youtu.be
This sort of exploitation is also common in Italy, as the book Gomorrah shows us.
As many would argue, it is thanks to these slaves that we can afford the things we buy. And knowing how many Maltese people think, I wouldnt be surprised if that was the main reason why nothing was done. The typical ” What do I care? And what sense is there is being in favour of something that will make things more expensive for me?” must have had a role in all this.
I hope everything comes to light and justice is done.
I do hope that certain politicians who like flaunting their designer suits and outfits throw them all away. they aren’t culpapble if they had no idea about this sort of thing, but knowing that those who made them ( even if it says made in Italy) may very likely have been treated the same way as these poor people must compel them to show some sort of respect.
In a normal country, if it could be proven that GWU leaders and its top officials were aware of these atrocious working conditions, it would practically spell the end of the GWU as we know it.
But this is anything but a normal country.
Hekk sewwa biex jiffrankalna zewg soldi ta kemm ihobb il-poplu, hafna pompa storbju u bnadar ta l-Ewropa. Imbaghad mank bikja wahda u ftit paroli minn tal-priministru dwar dan skandlu mghoqziez.
Ma tarax noffendu l-gvern Cinizi.
Issa sirna sudditi tal gvern Ciniz. Ic-Cina tikkmanda u Malta toghbdi. Xejn gdid flok Ghaddafi morna lejn lvant imbieghed.
There is one thing that I cannot understand. All that has been said is very, very true.
I know as someone in my used to sub-contract Leisure Clothing. This is over 15/20 years ago. How come it all came to light now? What is illegal and slavery now was also 20 years ago. How come no steps were ever taken to put a stop to this slavery? Would someone please explain to me the difference between then and now.
L-iskandlu Leisure Clothing: Fil-GWU kien hemm min ilu jaf
http://normanvella.blogspot.com/2014/10/l-iskandlu-leisure-clothing-fil-gwu.html
We have been informed that the police raided or visited the factory, but what about Social Security Services, Labour Office and Inland Revenue?
Is not what is happening all evasion of the above departments?
You’d think the Labour Office at least would be first on the doorstep.
How about dedicating a programme about this issue on Xarabank, Sur Peppi?
I see a Peppi Xarabank Azzopardi doing a special edition on this story same as he did with the invisible power station and all the other PL government debacles. NOTHING.
Yes so do I.
I can visualise one of those shots panning desolute faces as they are lifted and turned towards the camera. A sombre voice over saying – “Kif tista ma cemplix”. I would add ” lil Toni Zarb”
Has GWU chief Tony Zarb given any comment yet on this precarious work?
As far as Han Bin could see, a Bajtra Republic is somewhere to be. But now, for all the suits he allegedly gave away, a huge collective suit awaits him after facing criminal charges and a stint at the stocks.
This is not how Han Bin intended his life to have been.
But has Bin a plan, or has Han been binned?
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-10-30/local-news/Electrogas-says-all-consortium-members-dedicated-to-completing-power-station-project-6736124698
“ElectroGas Malta said that each member of the consortium possesses ample financial resources to continue funding the development costs of the project and their respective equity contributions needed to pay for the construction of the Project. This includes Gasol, which raised US$30m in the international bond market earlier this month.”
One wonders which financial institution or institutional investor would have funded those bonds with the most recent annual report of Gasol plc in hand.
Who in his right senses is going to hand US$30 million for bonds in a company which has guaranteed senior bonds amounting to US$23 million of another company – which senior bonds fall due in November?
Who would let go of US$30 million to a company whose shareholders owe the company US$13 million?
Who would lend US$30 million to a company which has just withdrawn its listing from a stock-exchange?
Why part with US$30 million to a company without revenues and without a track record?
And who would lend US$30 million to a company controlled by Ethelbert Cooper, a “financial engineer” who was associated with Don Mkhwanazi’s National Empowerment Trust Investment Fund, with Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front for Liberia and with the African Iron Ore Group’s shady deals in Guinea?
So the question is: who provided the US$30 million of funds to Gasol?
The Times of London had described Cooper’s shell companies as a “go between for the Chinese.”
And why is it that there is no news on the internet about Gasol collecting US$30 million on the “international bond market”? Is it possible for a company to collect US$30 million on the “international bond market” without some noise on the internet?
Besides, the Consortium is confirming that Gasol’s funds are not coming from equity shareholders, but merely from bonds. This means that the net position of the capital of the company remains unchanged – a hole of US$13 million due from shareholders.
I have a feeling the Chinese worker supply goes beyond clothing, with all the Chinese restaurants cropping up everywhere (most of them empty but keep rolling year after year) and all the Chinese ‘massage parlours’.
Who are Leisure Clothing’s auditors?
DFK (Malta) Farrugia, Farrugia & Co
http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2014/10/chinese-slave-labour-at-leisure-clothing-the-company-registration-details/
Such stories will be everyday life once China steps into Malta. Guess what? Mr Manuel Mallia threatens all officials who ‘leak information’ about this matter. Gone are the days of law and order.
What about other workers from outside the EU who are being exploited? The government pretends that they do not know but they are being given visas and working permits. Check for example Serb workers in hotels, Mr Pro Business BISS government.
Stories like this appear fairly regularly on ”Stricia La Notizia”. What is so strange is not that they arrive in one way or another in Italy (or Malta) , but no one knows if they ever die in these countries and if so, where do they get buried.
The priest currently hitting the headlines in Malta was awarded the Gieh ir-Repubblika in 2001. I hope that they’ll strip it off him eventually.
http://www.illum.com.mt/ahbarijiet/qrati_u_pulizija/38910/fr_charles_fenech_kien_ingata_ie_irrepubblika#.VFLAtMstDIU
What about those poor Chinese girls working at various ‘massage’ parlours across the island? Most of them had their passports taken away. Who is the Maltese big fish behind these brothels?